Mystery Sternwheeler By Keith Black - 1:120 Scale - 1870's Working Boat

[Keith Black]

 I picked this sternwheeler for my next project because it's simple, no exposed machinery, just caged paddlewheel, hull, deck, and structure. also the color was a factor, it is boxcar red. My previous sternwheeler builds and the Tennessee are black and white and I'm a bit bored with that color scheme. I really enjoyed my floating pile driver build not only because it was so different but also because of the color, I love boxcar red! 

 

 So much of an early build is research and can be pretty boring for the viewer. Even though I'm still working on the Susquehanna River sternwheeler build I thought I'd go ahead and start this build log and do the research part while waiting for paint to dry.

 

 I mentioned in my Susquehanna River sternwheeler build that I wanted to get into HO scale builds but I have so many 1:120 scale pieces parts I need to try and use those up before I move to 1:87 scale.

 

The link below is where I a saw this subject's photograph. It is not the Zephyr as stated in the writeup, see the Wikipedia link. This photograph is titled "ZEPHER sternwheeler_ early rppc". This sternwheeler looks shorter in length, the paddlewheel appears different, the railing is different, the engine room windows are different, the splashwall is different, and the boiler stack distance to pilothouse is different. Speaking of pilothouse, there is a strange object on top of the subject's pilothouse  forward of the boiler stack missing on the Zephyr. What is that?! It kinda looks like a water tank? I'll climb out on that limb and say, these two images are not of the same boat but both paddlewheels are caged.

 

 I want to see Lula and this sternwheeler plying the same waters. This is a neat looking working boat and I'm really looking forward to starting this build as it appears to be a great little project. 

 

The subject, the mystery Zepher

https://saltwaterpeoplehistoricalsociety.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-1870s-with-sternwheelers-on-sound.html

 

 The Zephyr

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zephyr_(steamboat)

 

 

 Thank you in advance to those who'll be following the journey.

 

   Keith

Edited Friday at 04:05 PM by Keith Black

[Knocklouder]

Looks like another fun boat, what or who is the white figure  just under the wheel house, mystery  lady perhaps 🤔 

Don't matter I am in ,good luck 

Bob  M.

[Keith Black]

32 minutes ago, Knocklouder said:

Looks like another fun boat, what or who is the white figure  just under the wheel house, mystery  lady perhaps 🤔 

Don't matter I am in ,good luck

 Thank you, Bob. I'm so glad you're going to be part of this. I was too interested in looking at the boats elements and since it isn't the boat I'll be building, I hadn't really paid attention to that figure in white till you said something.

[Paul Le Wol]

The mystery Zepher is a good looking boat. She must have been well cared for. Good luck with this build!

[Cathead]

3 hours ago, Keith Black said:

What is that?! It kinda looks like a water tank?

That was my first thought, too. Given that it's a saltwater vessel, kinda makes sense to have a source of drinking water given that this seems to have made long runs (e.g. not a harbor tug).

 

3 hours ago, Keith Black said:

I'll climb out on that limb and say, these two images are not of the same boat

Just to play devil's advocate, if you go back and look at the image collection in my Peerless build, that vessel went through some rather extraordinary revisions in her appearance over just ten years (including multiple configurations of railings and superstructure). Changes to things like railings, splashwall, masts, and even the cladding/windows of the engineroom, etc. wouldn't faze me. Your comment on the boiler stack distance to the pilot house is certainly something that would be harder to change, but I'm not immediately convinced it IS different? The difference in foreshortening between the two photos makes that, and the overall length, hard to judge but to my eye they look pretty similar.

 

I'm not insisting that it IS the same boat, but most of the differences in those two photos strike me as more aesthetic rather than structural and in line with what Peerless went through in even shorter service life. Bare minimum that second photo is a good reference for how things might have been from that stern angle, since if these aren't the same boat they're built along very similar lines.

 

You have an extraordinary knack for finding charismatic work boats; each project is unique yet all seem to follow a similar vibe that makes this series of projects flow together wonderfully. It's a real joy to follow and I'm thoroughly looking forward to this one.

[JacquesCousteau]

Very cool project, I'm looking forward to following along!

[Keith Black]

5 hours ago, Paul Le Wol said:

The mystery Zepher is a good looking boat. She must have been well cared for. Good luck with this build!

 Thank you, Paul.

 

4 hours ago, Cathead said:

That was my first thought, too. Given that it's a saltwater vessel, kinda makes sense to have a source of drinking water given that this seems to have made long runs (e.g. not a harbor tug).

 

 They couldn't find a more serviceable place to put a water tank like the galley instead up at the highest point? Would they have pumped fresh water up there??

 

4 hours ago, Cathead said:

ust to play devil's advocate, if you go back and look at the image collection in my Peerless build, that vessel went through some rather extraordinary revisions in her appearance over just ten years (including multiple configurations of railings and superstructure). Changes to things like railings, splashwall, masts, and even the cladding/windows of the engineroom, etc. wouldn't faze me. Your comment on the boiler stack distance to the pilot house is certainly something that would be harder to change, but I'm not immediately convinced it IS different? The difference in foreshortening between the two photos makes that, and the overall length, hard to judge but to my eye they look pretty similar.

 

I'm not insisting that it IS the same boat, but most of the differences in those two photos strike me as more aesthetic rather than structural and in line with what Peerless went through in even shorter service life. Bare minimum that second photo is a good reference for how things might have been from that stern angle, since if these aren't the same boat they're built along very similar lines.

 You're shakin' my limb, Mr Eric.   If they are the same photo which is the earlier? I guess they could be the same boat but geez Louise, to my eyes they look so radically different it would seem like it would have taken a major refit to incorporate them all. the one good thing about the Saltwater People's photo is the man standing at the splashwall, that makes for a great scale referencing. i haven't put pencil to paper on anything including size guesstimates.

 

 There is a model a gentleman built of the Zephyr that I need to post phot's of as it gives some clarity to the Wikipedia photo. 

 

4 hours ago, Cathead said:

You have an extraordinary knack for finding charismatic work boats; each project is unique yet all seem to follow a similar vibe that makes this series of projects flow together wonderfully. It's a real joy to follow and I'm thoroughly looking forward to this one.

 

 Thank you, Eric. I look forward to you being here. 

[Keith Black]

9 minutes ago, JacquesCousteau said:

Very cool project, I'm looking forward to following along!

 Thank you for your willingness to be part of the journey, Jacques. 

[Cathead]

2 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

They couldn't find a more serviceable place to put a water tank like the galley instead up at the highest point?

Best place for gravity feed. Maybe pilot liked a regular mixer for his whiskey? No argument it's an unusual placement, whatever it is.

 

5 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

I guess they could be the same boat but geez Louise, to my eyes they look so radically different it would seem like it would have taken a major refit to incorporate them all.

Go back and scroll through the very first post in my Peerless log. She's barely recognizable as the same vessel:

• Boiler deck superstructure either extends all the way to stern or stops before the engine room front wall
• Main deck railings vary from none to extensive
• Boiler deck railings vary from none to all the way around
• Engineroom has either between a row of diamond-shaped windows or no windows
• Tow knee configuration changes
• Front of the boiler deck varies between square and round corners

And it's not just two different versions, all these changes seem to happen on a spectrum as people kept messing with her configuration.

 

To my eyes the wheel and stack in your two photos seem the same, and those seem some of the less likely features to be altered. Just my two cents.

[Keith Black]

 The model of the Zephyr I spoke of earlier was right here in our backyard.

 

 

[Cathead]

Interesting that it doesn't include the frame around the paddle wheel. Looks like the builder hasn't been active on MSW in a few years, and I don't see a build log on their profile. Wonder what photos/resources they used? Would be well worth sending a private message to see if you can establish contact.

[Keith Black]

49 minutes ago, Cathead said:

nteresting that it doesn't include the frame around the paddle wheel. Looks like the builder hasn't been active on MSW in a few years, and I don't see a build log on their profile. Wonder what photos/resources they used? Would be well worth sending a private message to see if you can establish contact.

 He was probably using this photo, Eric. It's sure different than the Wikipedia photo. In all the Northwest sternwheeler photos I note the lack of black smoke which suggest they used wood for fuel. What do you think?  

 

 

[Gbmodeler]

Hi!  Yes, that last photo posted by Cathead is the same one I found in the book, Blow for the Landing, A Hundred Years os Steam Navigation on the Waters of the West by Fritz Timmen, Shiffer Publishing, Ltd., page 82.  The book gives a short history as well.

 

I scaled the boat and made what plans I could from this almost perfect profile photo, using the men on the decks (guessing their heights at 5’10”).  

[Cathead]

1 hour ago, Keith Black said:

In all the Northwest sternwheeler photos I note the lack of black smoke which suggest they used wood for fuel. What do you think?  

Washington State does have a variety of coal deposits, especially in parts of western WA, and coal is a LOT more energy-dense than wood, and a lot of vessels had converted over to coal by the late 1800s (just like railroads). Also, a lot of the dominant trees in the Pacific NW aren't as energy-dense as Midwestern/Eastern hardwoods, making coal even more attractive as a fuel. But I'm not particularly familiar with the maritime history of that area so I really can't say what fuels were used when. The lack of smoke may just be photographs being staged/taken when the vessel isn't working hard. Coal-burning locomotives don't put out plumes of black smoke all the time, either, just mostly when they're trying to build up steam pressure (like starting a heavy train or going up a grade). A locomotive cruising along doesn't actually put out all that much heavy smoke, and the same would be true for a vessel like this.

[Keith Black]

11 hours ago, Gbmodeler said:

Hi!  Yes, that last photo posted by Cathead is the same one I found in the book, Blow for the Landing, A Hundred Years os Steam Navigation on the Waters of the West by Fritz Timmen, Shiffer Publishing, Ltd., page 82.  The book gives a short history as well.

 

I scaled the boat and made what plans I could from this almost perfect profile photo, using the men on the decks (guessing their heights at 5’10”).  

 Thank you, GB. When I found that photo at https://www.washingtonruralheritage.org/digital/collection/nols/id/3948/ I knew it was the one you used  for your model which is a very nice model by the way. 

 

9 hours ago, Cathead said:

Washington State does have a variety of coal deposits, especially in parts of western WA, and coal is a LOT more energy-dense than wood, and a lot of vessels had converted over to coal by the late 1800s (just like railroads). Also, a lot of the dominant trees in the Pacific NW aren't as energy-dense as Midwestern/Eastern hardwoods, making coal even more attractive as a fuel. But I'm not particularly familiar with the maritime history of that area so I really can't say what fuels were used when. The lack of smoke may just be photographs being staged/taken when the vessel isn't working hard. Coal-burning locomotives don't put out plumes of black smoke all the time, either, just mostly when they're trying to build up steam pressure (like starting a heavy train or going up a grade). A locomotive cruising along doesn't actually put out all that much heavy smoke, and the same would be true for a vessel like this.

 Eric, my daddy was a coal miner just over the Snoqualmie Pass in the town of Roslyn so I'm very familiar with coal production in that area.  In 1947 when I was six months old Dad hitchhiked from Dallas to Roslyn and after he got squared away he sent for Mother and I. The first cat in my life was a kitten my Dad and I got from the basement of the company store which would have been late 48/early 49.

 

https://www.historylink.org/File/5158

 

From researching fuel used by steamboats in the Pacific Northwest during the 1870's , it seems this period was transitional going from wood to coal as the Roslyn, Cle Elum, and Ronald area coal fields were developed. 

 

https://www.historylink.org/file/869

 

 Looking at the Saltwater People Historical Society photo below, the vessel in the background is under power and is not blowing black smoke. If you look closely you can see a wisp of whitish smoke which leads me to believe wood was the fuel source but I could be wrong. I do see wood stacked under the stairs/ladder leading up to the pilothouse, wood that would have been used for the wood burner in the galley. 

 

Edited Saturday at 10:19 AM by Keith Black

[Keith Black]

17 hours ago, Cathead said:

o back and scroll through the very first post in my Peerless log. She's barely recognizable as the same vessel:

• Boiler deck superstructure either extends all the way to stern or stops before the engine room front wall
• Main deck railings vary from none to extensive
• Boiler deck railings vary from none to all the way around
• Engineroom has either between a row of diamond-shaped windows or no windows
• Tow knee configuration changes
• Front of the boiler deck varies between square and round corners

And it's not just two different versions, all these changes seem to happen on a spectrum as people kept messing with her configuration.

 

To my eyes the wheel and stack in your two photos seem the same, and those seem some of the less likely features to be altered. Just my two cents.

Eric, for those of us that use photographs to make models after viewing those photos for hundreds if not thousands of times we're able to spot the most insignificant detail. I think that's the case with the Peerless. You're able to see things that it takes me several viewings before I'm finally able see what you so easily saw. Having said that, in all the photos of Peerless, to me, she always looks like the Peerless. 

 

 As far as the Wikipedia photo and the Saltwater People supposed photo of the Zephyr, I don't get that sense of them being the same vessel. Now, there's no doubt that the Wikipedia photo and the Washington Rural Heritage photo are both of the Zephyr regardless of the major differences/changes made between the two.

 

 I value your two cents worth greatly.  

[Cathead]

15 hours ago, Keith Black said:

 Eric, my daddy was a coal miner just over the Snoqualmie Pass in the town of Roslyn so I'm very familiar with coal production in that area

Great backstory! Had no idea you had a connection to this vessel's home region.

[ajromano]

Fabulous! I want to something like this in 1/48 scale.